The natural history and multitrophic ecological network of the highly restricted butterfly Catasticta truncata (Lepidoptera Pieridae) from urban areas of Loja, Ecuador

Abstract

This study describes the natural history and multitrophic interactions of the highly restricted Andean butterfly species Catasticta truncata (Lathy & Rosenberg, 1912) from the urban and surrounding areas of Loja in southern Ecuador. The immature stages of the butterfly are described and illustrated, and the host plant is identified as Phoradendron nervosum Oliv. (Viscaceae), an aerial-stem hemiparasitic shrub that parasitizes trees of Salix humboldtiana (Willd) (Salicaceae). Multitrophic interactions that this species maintains in the urban ecosystem are described. One interaction includes a predator, Ambastus villosus Stal, 1872 (Reduvidae). In addition, and for the first time for the genus Catasticta Butler, 1870, the presence of an endoparasitoid wasp (Ichneumonidae) and a hyperparasitoid (secondary parasitoid) wasp Pediobius sp. (Eulophidae), both potentially undescribed species, are documented. Flowers from plants in the Asteraceae family are visited by adults of C. truncata. This new information highlights the ecological roles of these butterflies in the green areas within the city of Loja. Finally, due to the highly restricted distribution of this species within Loja’s green areas and the striking beauty of adults, along with this butterfly being a component within 4 trophic levels in the urban ecological network, this butterfly could be a flagship for the city of Loja. Local actions that help the conservation of this species should positively affect the organisms that interact with it and positively influence the well-being of the city’s inhabitants in general.